The Changeling run, notes so far

We're a week into the run at the Pioneer. I wasn't planning at being at all of the screenings, but so far I've dropped in at least before or after each of them. Response has been really positive, and people who may have seen the DVD are impressed seeing it on the big screen, most especially because you can't experience the audio on DVD like you can in a theater. And the projection is quite good at the theater. I shocked a few people (including one very experienced producer) when I told them we shot it on MiniDV.

What I am enjoying the most is hearing audience members comment on things I didn't think about. One person said that a certain exterior transition shot was the central shot of the movie because it captured the dark/light contrast in the story, and also highlighted how most of the actors' faces are in half light and half dark. I never really thought about that shot, nor did I really think about the light/dark contrast in such explicit terms, but of course that audience memeber was right.

I'm also enjoying how many people who don't know anything about this play or Middleton are able to completely understand what's going on. I had many people tell me how clear the dialogue is to them. I really enjoy hearing that. It's a credit to our wonderful cast (and Middleton and Rowley of course) that this archaic language is so fresh and clear.

We had a few staged readings of murder scenes from other plays from the same time period following a few screenings. Those were a lot of fun to do and the audience seemed to enjoy them as well. Tonight I'm giving a short presentation on how we pulled off the movie with so little money and with such a short shooting schedule. Those of you who have already been reading this production diary already know much of the story.

I'll post again once the run is over next week.